


Jealousy Doesn't Look Good On You

by tacha_bacha



Series: Epic Cosmic Evak AUs [1]
Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: AU, Baby Isak, I will keep updating the character tags as the characters appear, Isak is just so lost in love that he doesn't realise how Julian is being sneaky, Jealous Even Bech Næsheim, Jeaously, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, Young Love, cosmic love, first year of Nissen, lol I still crack up over how we refer to him with his full name, promt, serious stuff go down y'all, sneaky Julian Dahl, stay tuned for more jealousy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-07 06:10:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11617560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tacha_bacha/pseuds/tacha_bacha
Summary: Throwback to Baby!Isak at Nissen, but where he's only started dating a jealous!Even. Julian Dahl starts to enter the picture, which causes the rare side of Even to be shown.Or potential AU! where Even has had bad past experience with relationships and is on the brink of breaking his relationship with Isak until he finds out that Isak is the help he needs to get over it.





	1. Look At Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tenna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenna/gifts).



> This is for Tenna (@prinsenimittliv on tumblr), from this prompt that I received from her many a moons ago:
> 
> "i really want you to write a prompt with jealous even in s1  
> like what if they were together in s1 and those gifs are from evens pov  
> i mean, look at isak flirting like he doesn’t have a bf"
> 
> I hope this lived up to your expectations!<3  
> I made some gifs with this post on tumblr (@mannentilminkardemomme) if ya wanna have a little gander :3  
> Also, big shout out to my homegirl Bella (@beanievaltersen) for beta'ing this! You a hella damn fine writing buddy I got :*
> 
> I'm still not finished with shouting from the top of my lungs of how much I love Johanne's (@br1skeby) current Uni-AU "All Of My Pieces", so if you're hungry for a good sandwich after reading this lil chapter, then make yourself an ace sandwich and go get reading her AU here on AO3 whilst eating said sandwich :3 (I promise you'll thank me later lol) :P

_Fucking Julian Dahl._

 

Even never normally let the jealousy take charge of him and his mood, but this was the last straw. It had to be the last straw, since Isak was  _his_. Not Julian’s. His.

He had been lenient with Julian ever since Isak introduced him to Even as a childhood friend a couple of weeks ago. Even couldn’t help but let the slight jealousy go a little at the time given how happy and relaxed Isak was around his old friends. Keeping Isak’s mood high and his mind off of what was currently happening at home with his parents was Even’s main priority, so seeing his little moody teenager being free and happy for a change, be it even with  _fucking Julian Dahl_  was more than enough. The two boys had started talking again when they found out that they shared a couple of classes with each other at Nissen, since their friendship was abruptly interrupted when the summer holiday started and everything went to shit at Isak’s home. Even was comfortable with all the small talk and the inside jokes between the two younger boys of course, but Isak was ever so slightly starting to share with Julian his special smile, his special laugh and everything that Even thought was only shown between him and Isak. Yes, Isak was only in his first year of Nissen. And yes, it was important that he had a stable friendship group.

But in the heat of the moment Even decided that this had gone too far.

The tall boy stood there on the opposite side of the school grounds circled by his classmates from the previous lesson, perfectly placed in relation to Isak so that he could tactically zone out of the immature mumblings from those around him and dream about his golden boy for twenty minutes like he usually did. But Even had lost control over his jealousy and decided that today it had gone too far.

He clenched his fists ever so slightly, staring at Isak so intensely that his eyes might as well have had been lasers and walked over in Isak’s direction with one thing on his mind: _he’s mine._

As he neared his small smiling sunshine, he made sure to gently bump into Julian with enough force to make him realise that Even was now dominating this space. He came round to Isak’s side, perched on the bench with him, wrapped his arm around his waist and sneakily pulled him into his side.

“Hey, baby.” Even smiled to Isak, stealing his attention away from Julian.

“Hey! Even!” He smiled even wider back, “You remember Julian, my old friend from Grefsen-”

“Yes, you’ve mentioned him before.” Even nodded politely to Julian with a forced nice-guy smile on his lips, trying his best to make sure that Julian finally got the message to just back off already.

Julian quickly noticed the game that was being played here, “Hi, Even! So good to see you again. You know, Isak was just mentioning about how we should all go out one night and have pre-drinks together.”  _What the hell? That’s not for you to join in on. Get your own group of friends._

Even winced at the thought of being near Julian anywhere outside of school, and immediately knew what he was doing. He knew how he was taking a slight advantage of Isak’s fragile state.  _Sneaky little bugger._

“Oh my word, yes! That would be so great. Us three and the boys all together, like in the old days. Well, not exactly like that but, you know. Jonas would enjoy spending time time with you again, we all would.” Isak responded with a little too much excitement in his voice than Even could handle.  _Why am I letting Julian get to me like this._

“Oh cool. I heard that some first year girls were having a party with the ‘97 guys this Friday, so we could do it then.” Julian responded, a smug smile spreading over his lips accompanied by confidence in his voice.  _You’re not getting away from this easily, Julian._

“We can go to that one, can’t we, Even?” Isak nudged him slightly, suddenly turning Even’s attention back to his sunshine boy. Oh how wonderful and sweet he could be in innocent moments like these.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Great, so it’s a date.” Julian confidently told them before walking away with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face.  _What’s that guy’s problem? Can’t he see that he doesn’t stand a chance here?_

Even hadn’t dropped his dead-pan face of no remorse until Isak gently stroked away the frowns that were collecting on his forehead. “What’s on your mind?”

_Fucking Julian Dahl._

“You, of course, like always.” Even still didn’t feel confident enough to expose Isak with a kiss in front of all his classmates at school, so he just lent down to his ear and whispered “I’ve just really fallen for you.”

He could feel Isak blush from under his hold around his waist, even just from those couple of words. So he tightened his grip a little more and pulled him in closer, “Fy faen, you look so good with your hair like that.”

Little did it take for Isak to melt from the inside in response to Even’s words, so he tried to hide his shy smile and red face from him by looking at the ground, his eyes looking for an object to focus on, but finding none.

“Look at me.” Even brought his hand to Isak’s chin and softly tilted it upwards so that they were now facing each other at a slight angle. “You, Isak Valtersen, are a beautiful boy. Don’t let anyone else other than me say so, okay?” His big blue eyes now catching Isak’s attention.

“Okay.”

Even pressed their foreheads together and for a second, or two, it was just a beautiful boy and a caring boy that were uncomfortably perched on a bench in the middle of the day, in the middle of Oslo, and to them it felt like being in the centre of the universe.


	2. For Eternity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Isak.”  
> “Yes.”  
> “Did you, like-. Uh. Uhm, did you two…”  
> “What is it?”  
> “Were you and Julian a thing?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halla beautiful beans of this world!  
> Thank you so, so, so much for all of your lovely responses for the first chapter! You guys da best! You gave me so much confidence- no joke! :D  
> I wanted to get this little clip of our boys together before the party, because I thought otherwise the story would be a little bare, don't you think?  
> I dunno :D But that's why there's a lil cute comment section at the end, so that I can read your thoughts and suggestions------ THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUGGESTIONS! Honestly, truly! They make me feel like I've got something more to aim for when I'm planning and writing, and it's a nice feeling to have when I know that I'm writing something specific for someone. I don't know, but it makes the whole experience for me nicer than it already is  
> Hope this is alright! I don't want to let you all down with what goes on at the party, so I'm going to try and make it as perfect as possible.  
> Hope you enjoy this lil blob of words!

**Babe❤️❤️❤️**

**Thursday, 17:32**

 

Wanna come over tonight?

Can’t I’ve got chemistry hw for tomorrow

Do it at mine

My parents are out

I’ll show you how to chemistry

Even you know shit all about science

What you playing at?

Ouch

I know that mitochondria is the powerhouse of a cell

Dude

No

Just stop

That’s not even chemistry

Dude?

Wow even more ouch

Ugh

I need a hug now

Piss off

Sounds like you need a hug too, you little grump<3

Shut up

:'(

**17:57**

I’ll be there in 20 mins

:D

I’ll make sure to have candles everywhere and slow jazz music on

It’ll be real romantic

You’re weird, you know that right?

If it weren’t for the fact that I’m nearly there I would’ve turned

around and gone back home

lol you can’t get enough of me

<3

“Hey, baby,” Even expected to open the door to an Isak that was just going to fling his body with open arms at the tall boy, but instead he was met with a grumpy, tired, stressed Isak who just let out a small sigh and an unenergetic response from under both a snapback and a hood tightly pulled over his head.

“Hei.”

“What’s up?”

Even opened the door wider for him to enter and when he had closed it, Isak had already made his way to the kitchen table to unpack his school work.

Isak was avoiding eye-contact.

“This chemistry is just so much harder than I had expected. It’s like the teacher wants us to suffer over this stupid piece of work instead of us actually getting something out of doing it.”

Even sat down on the chair across from Isak, who looked like he was on the brink of having a small meltdown with his head buried beneath his hands as the small boy let out another sigh, this one being much deeper than the last. Even gently took hold of both hands and slowly brought them down from Isak’s face, brushing his thumbs ever so softly over the back of his hands.

Isak didn’t react like what Even was used to. He didn’t try and hold back a small smile. He didn’t roll his eyes and curse. He didn’t even pull back his hands in response to Even’s actions. He all but sat there in the chair, in Even’s kitchen, looking down at the table, doing all he could to keep from letting the taller boy see straight through him and his worries.

When Even brought his right hand up to cup Isak’s cheek, he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He opened his eyes to meet the bright, bright blue eyes filled with questions and concerns and the want to just help his small boy through whatever emotions he was experiencing now.

_Let me help you._

The two exchanged silent glances for longer than they had ever before, and Even truly felt that in those couple of seconds he could hear all of the boy’s thoughts and feel all his angst.

_I promise you, I will forever be there for you._

Isak must’ve felt the same magic in the air as Even had in that moment, as he decided to just let go of all the stress that he had bottled up in his body.

“He then went behind my back and carelessly told my story to basically anyone that passed by,” Isak blurted out in between a consistent stream of tears which had now clogged up his eyesight. “By the end of the summer term everyone in the school knew about what was going on at home… Even the teachers.”

When Isak had decided to begin sharing every little detail of what was going on in his mind, Even immediately brought his hands back to hold Isak’s, this time with a tight yet gentle grip, hoping to pass on a sense of security and safety. He didn’t interrupt him, he didn’t judge him. All he did was sit there in the moment of sadness and listen to him. Even highly doubted that anyone at home cared to think for two seconds of how Isak was doing, so even at the age of 18, Even felt the responsibility to be there for his boy who was still only 16. The boy that everyone passed off as being enthusiastic, someone who was always fine, someone who didn’t carry any worries or have a care in the world.

After learning Isak’s story in the summer, Even quickly came to terms over the fact that this boy was much, _much_ more than that.

Isak’s strength continued to inspire Even. Even at the darkest times, he always managed to find a little light to cling onto. Something small worth fighting for for just one more moment.

Isak was Even’s light. And that was for eternity.

Even though the two boys only started properly sharing their fondness for each other towards the end of the summer holiday when Even found out that Isak was going to go to Nissen, they were still both equally wary of showing their deepest feelings for each other. Isak was still young, and Even didn’t want to take his youth away from him so quickly like that, so he made sure to make the biggest effort to at least make _this_ relationship work out.

“Wait, so was it Julian who did all this to you?”

They were now huddled up against each other in Even’s bed. Even with his back against the wall and Isak with his back against Even’s chest. He used to have a bunk bed, but after his sudden growth spurt, he couldn’t help but continuously bump his head against the ceiling every time he climbed up, causing a small but noticeable dent to be formed. So he got a normal bed that was comfortable enough for one almost-fully-grown teenage body to lie in, but a little on the cosy side when two almost-fully-grown teenage bodies were to lie side by side.

Even had sat Isak down between his sprawled-out legs on his bed after he had cried his final tears in the kitchen. The two bodies were now joined together with Isak’s back leaning into Even’s chest, his arms gently wrapped around the small boy’s waist and Isak’s head resting on the tall boy’s right upper-chest. The two of them slotted perfectly together.

_It’s almost as though we’re made for eachother._

“No.”

“Who then?”

“Some other guy in my class,” Isak let out a sharp breath whilst closing his eyes and letting the knot in his stomach grow smaller with every second that Even gently rocked his body like the wind, slightly side to side, “He was constantly getting at me. Once he found out about what was going on at home, it was almost as if he was obsessed. He wouldn’t let it go. Even after Jonas went after him every time he shouted something at me, he still found the need to keep coming back with something worse.”

“Isak, baby. I’m so sorry you had to go through this.”

“But that’s not the worst part, you know? People actually started isolating me. People who I thought were my friends stopped inviting me to parties and all. I still can’t fucking believe it. It was only Jonas and Eva that were there for me those last couple of months. Everyone else left me. It was so fucking unbelievable.”

The tears had started welling up again, a couple already escaping and making their way down his cheeks. Even brought one hand up to his face and stroked every single drop away.

“It’s all behind you now, yeah?” Even said, pressing a long, soft kiss onto Isak’s temple, “I’ve got you. You’re doing so well, baby.”

“Yeah. It’s just- Jonas reminded me about Julian and how shitty he was. I don’t know. I sort of repressed most of my memories from that time because it just hurt so bad and when I met Julian again here at Nissen, it’s like my brain betrayed me and I completely forgot about how he was. Because, when I asked Jonas to join us and Julian for pre-drinks tomorrow he was hesitant and started reminding me about how Julian wasn’t there for me like he should have been. He told me that he wouldn’t join us for pre-drinks or the party if Julian was there because he won’t forgive him or something. So I just messaged Julian and lied to him saying that we weren’t going to the party anyway and that the pre-drinks were cancelled. I mean, we were really tight beforehand. And then when the news spread at Grefsen, it was as if he was scared to be seen with me or something, even though we’d been really close friends for five years or so. Like, I would message him asking for him to come over like usual because I had the biggest crush on him,”

_What-_

“and he always seemed to make all my worries go away and made me feel special when we were together,”

_He didn’t deserve you._

“but since Mum was at home, he just shut me off completely and didn’t want anything to do with me or her and-. Oh my god.”

The tears had started again, and another round of emotions were about to be released, so Even hugged him tighter and whispered sweet nothings to him to calm him down. It broke him to see his sunshine boy haunted by this moment of his past.

_You will never be alone again. I promise you. I fucking promise you._

“Isak.”

“Yes.”

“Did you, like-. Uh. Uhm, did you two…”

“What is it?” He asked softly.

“Were you and Julian _a_ _thing_?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3 Hope that it was alright? I hope that I wrote enough about Isak's backstory for it to still be intriguing for future chapters.  
> I'm in Germany all this week, so I'll be on my phone, typing away on the long coach journeys and accidentally making as many typos as possible lol :P  
> So, what is going to happen at the party?? How did Isak and Even actually meet??? Why did Julian react like that at Grefsen?? How is Even going to react if he sees Julian again?  
> Big shout out (because I'm that person lol) to my writing buddy Bella @beanievaltersen for beta'ing this, and to Ellinor @isakschili and Sue @julieseven for reading over this aswell! I er begge to så søde<3  
> I apologise in advance if it'll be a while for the party chapter to come out- I just really want to make it perfect for you guys, and I have it all played out and planned in my head, but I just need to pinpoint how to link it all together perfectly!  
> Elsker dere alle!


	3. Just Leave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both positive and negative stuff happen :D
> 
> I'm not going to give away anymore!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HaallallLAAAA beautiful beans of this weird world!
> 
> Sorry for this update. I seem to only be updating once every month, which isn't something I want to keep going at. But fear not! For I have already started planning the next chapter, so there's still a bit of hope :P
> 
> SHOUT OUT TO THE PEOPLE AT THE BACK- just wanna drop the bomb that Bella @beanievaltersen is a very dear babe for beta'ing this! I can always trust her to give her true opinion on it and be petty with my poor spelling and storyline :P (Takkkerrr, du)<3
> 
> Hope you enjoy. I hope this hella long chapter (the most I've ever written!) will be okay and do jealous!Even justice.

“Dude! You were so fucking drunk! It was the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen! Like, you had no idea what was going on so you just did the most random shit I’ve ever seen you do,” Jonas declared, his laugh interrupting his statements continuously mid-sentence.

“Shut up! I wasn’t that drunk,” Isak bit back defensively, trying his best to still keep a little sense of pride in his drinking abilities. “And anyways, I’m the master of drinking. No one can drink better than me. I never get drunk.”

“Pff, that’s the second most ridiculous thing I’ve heard you say tonight,” Jonas answered.

“What? What was the most ridiculous thing I’ve said so far- actually no, wait. That’s wrong. I never say stupid stuff like that.”

“Well I was going to answer with you claiming that you ‘weren’t that drunk’ but you’ve just topped that with the ever more unbelievable comment ‘I never say stupid stuff’.”

“Shut up. Even, why aren’t you defending me. That’s why you’re here.”

Even’s eyebrows shot up in an act of surprise. “Oh is  _ that _ why I’m here? Well thanks, Isak. Now at least I know where I stand,” he replied with a heavy hint of teasing in his voice.

There was happiness in the air and three boys spread around the sofa in the living room of Even’s apartment: Jonas, Isak and Even. Isak felt good about the fact that for once it was Jonas that was third wheeling and Even could clearly see how comfortable his boy was around Jonas.

_ Now this, this is the friendship he deserves. _

They had only been there for about an hour, yet they were still going strong with the roasting between each other. Well, it was more like Jonas and Even vs. Isak. Neither of them could get enough of Isak’s flushed face of embarrassment as Jonas told old stories of Isak’s misfortunate adventures and attempts of picking up girls. The laughter coming from each of the boys grew with every defensive response Isak would blurt out, and towards the end of their drinking session Jonas and Even both had huge-ass grins on their faces whilst Isak kept trying to explain to them how after two beers he was still “completely sober”.

_ My sweet little lightweight. _

After finishing the six pack between them, Jonas, Isak and Even made their way to Eva’s house. 

When they had arrived there were people plastered to every wall, making out, or more like forcing their tongues down each other’s throats. There were a fair amount of ‘97 guys around, but the house was so packed that it basically felt like half of Nissen had showed up. The three boys had started moving towards the kitchen to try and find Eva when they heard the most high-pitched voice no man has heard before.

“Isak! Hey!” Vilde had bombarded the small boy with a tight hug, a beautiful smile, and lights dancing in her eyes. “I’m so happy you’re here. Come! Taste these margaritas I made.” She took his hand and led him directly to the kitchen before Jonas and Even could interfere, let alone process the state Vilde was in.

“Wow,” said Even, finding comfort in the fact that Jonas was wearing the same dazzled yet smiling expression. “She’s quite a girl.”

“Uh, aha yeah. She’s nice. Don’t worry about her though, she’ll take care of him.”

“Cool.”

Even felt almost naked without Isak by his side, but he didn’t want to come across as  _ that  _ possessive boyfriend who always needed to protect his mate. He could do this. He could socialise. He had done this so many times before, talking to random faces, most of whom were completely out of it. So he grabbed a can of cheap beer, put on his fun party guy facade and entered the big crowd of people all dancing unevenly along to the heavy music in the background.

He didn’t miss the stress of being single. The stress of being expected to hook up with some girl, to take her home and then to have the whole school talk about you and how you’re apparently such a fuckboy the following Monday when it was always her that left you before waking up the morning after. No, he didn’t miss that at all. It actually felt quite good to repeatedly tell those who were coming a bit too close to comfort that he had a boyfriend. That sweet sweet word always rolled so easily off his tongue.

_ Boyfriend.  _

One of his all-time favourite memories was when Isak had gathered every single strand of courage to ask him out right before the new school year was to begin.

They were just messing about in Even’s bed, tickling and teasing each other when in the heat of the moment the tall boy had Isak pinned down underneath him and was tickling him to death that Isak had sung his new favourite word in between bubbly giggles for the first time.

“Fuck me, you’re so mean, Even. Stop- Stop tickling me, oh my word! You’re the meanest boyfriend ever!”

Even’s heart had stopped beating, his hands had stopped tickling. He just stared at the small boy, his face filled with an expression of awe and disbelief.

“What did you just say?” He asked gently, holding his breath in case he had gotten his hopes up and had instead heard what he’d always wanted to hear.

Isak quickly realised what was happening. The panic in his eyes gave it away. Amongst all the different million scenarios that Even had fantasised about in his head about how they were going to get together officially, this was definitely nothing like what he had ever dreamt of. Not even close to it.

A mumbled and embarrassed _ “fuck”  _ escaped Isak’s lips as panic spread through Even’s chest like wildfire.

The small boy started shifting uneasily out from Even’s tight hold and sat up to face him eye to eye, soul to soul. He crossed his legs and placed his fumbling hands in his lap. Even just sat opposite him on his knees as still and mute as a statue.

“So- um. You know how we’ve been good friends for the past two months. I just- oh fuck,” Isak buried his head in his hands in an attempt to cover his nervousness and bright red face. Even carried on just sitting there like stone. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ll just go now, like-” The small boy hesitated for a second before shifting some more under Even’s stare.

“Even?”

The tall boy let out the breath he was holding in for so long and blinked slowly, processing the situation. He reached out to take Isak’s shaking hands in his, softly and gently, like he had done so many times before. No words were spoken, but the light in his eyes that only shined for Isak were dancing and singing for him, only him, and this gave the small boy that little ounce of confidence that he needed.

“Even-,” his voice cracked. “would it be possible to- uh. Can we, like,” Isak’s eyes at this point were finding his slightly shaking hands more interesting than the beautiful boy’s face, but really just attempting to hide his flushed face and the fact that he couldn’t quite gather enough courage to see what Even’s facial expression was like. An _“Oh, shit”_ being silently muttered under his breath.

A long pause followed, with Isak’s last word hanging dryly in the air. The silence seemed to accompany held breaths from both of the boys.

This next moment had to be played out tactically from Even’s part, since the ball seemed to be in his court. It felt like that blinding, adrenaline infused moment before winning a game, where the attacker has two options: to play carefully thus extending the length of the game and providing the opportunity for the opposition to win, or to own the lead and go forward with winner’s pride, where the latter never seemed to have a positive effect on the other player. So if Even was to make this situation last - whatever this situation really was - then he thought it’d be better to play carefully and not make a move that may leave him as a winner but consequently leave Isak bruised.

So he took a couple of slow breaths to calm his thoughts and try and piece this mess of a moment together. He was here, Isak was there. They were in his bed together. Two friends, who were, only to each other’s knowledge, definitely more than just  _ friends. _

Even didn’t want to let himself be  _ that _ person and admit his precious thoughts that Isak was more than just a friend. He was like a source of comfort. A person that always gave him the best atmosphere to let his emotions out in, knowing that there would still be someone on the other side, waiting to pull him into a meaningful embrace or utter just the right words he would need to hear. Over the summer, Isak had gradually become more like the other half of Even. Isak was what made Even whole. He made him into a better person- the best version of himself that he could possibly think of being. This wasn’t a passing thought that had just popped up in the moment of confusion and feelings. This was definitely something that Even had allowed himself to think long and hard about, making it possible to remember the new role of importance that this small, brave, beautiful boy played in Even’s life.

He no longer had any sparing doubt that this precious bean was just a so-called ‘ _ friend’. _

Even had played his cards right these past two months, only wanting the best between the two of them, and he knew that this moment was one of those ‘now or never’ situations. So he pushed away whatever nerves were finding their way through the bottom of his stomach and gave Isak’s hands a small squeeze.

Another deep breath gave him his last boost of confidence. “You-,” a few seconds of silence passed. “You want to ask me out?” he asked, his voice weak and deep, still in disbelief over the thought that Isak actually wanted him- the whole of him.

“Yeah, well. Do you want to, maybe, be my boyfriend?” Asked Isak, his eyes still staring directly at their hands and nothing else, too afraid to see the possibility of sadness in Even’s eyes. But when he pulled forward his last ounce of courage and decided to look up, he met the complete opposite. Instead of pity, Even’s eyes were shining bright and the small smile emerging from his lips quickly found their way to Isak’s, just for a peck. Only a peck. He didn’t want to accidently overwhelm the boy at any point. _No, this relationship is going to work this time. No matter how slow it goes._

So the sweet  _ “Of course”  _ that Even let out in response was more than enough for Isak to break into the biggest, goofiest smile of all time. And Even knew that someway or other he had chosen the right path in life in which destiny undoubtedly played a grand role in the story of Isak and Even right there in his bedroom.

After about 20 minutes had passed where Even had danced with everyone around who bothered, all acting as though he was their best friend, he began to notice the lack of Isak’s presence even more than he had anticipated. Don’t get him wrong, he was really happy that Isak was still his independent self when out and about, and it filled Even with joy to see him be the careless 16-year-old that every teenage boy should be, and especially out on nights like these. But these first-year girls were a bit too silly for Even to spend the rest of the evening with. Sweet, but silly. And the latter, the ’97 guys were the complete opposite, as you could literally feel their pretentiousness radiate from their existence, and Even just couldn’t for the life of him be bothered to interact with them, even though they were technically the same age and all.

Isak still hadn’t popped into his eyesight, so he decided to rest his legs for a minute or two on the sofa in the living room, where people were still mindlessly dancing to the music. He found a little gap between two bodies that had decided to pass out for the night and started just looking at all the different people there were at Eva’s party. Two first-year girls that were definitely not sober had decided to try and wake their third-party that was lying sprawled out next to Even to take her home. After a couple of misfortunate attempts which would undoubtedly leave the passed-out girl with bruises, they succeeded.

Vilde had emerged from the kitchen all giddy with a rather uninterested douche who went by the name William by her side, both making their way outside the front door together to do something or other. If it weren’t for the fact that there were literally people everywhere in and around the house acting as witnesses for any possible drama, then Even wouldn’t have thought twice about following them and placing himself within eyesight of Vilde, just to make sure that nothing happened to her.

_ This girl deserves the world to look after her, not to break her. _

So he stayed put in the sofa and continued his not-as-interesting-as-originally-thought-actually-really-fucking-boring people-watching session.

He was about to pull his body off of the sofa to grab another beer from the kitchen when an all too familiar and equally sweet voice instantly convinced him otherwise.

“Hi, Even!”

If someone was ever to ask him who was the wisest girl around in the whole wide world, he would answer Sana Bakkoush in the blink of an eye, without even having to think about it.

“Hey Sana!” He answered with a genuine smile on his lips.

There were some days where even the sun didn’t shine as bright as her. And this was undoubtedly one of those days.

Her aura was as sophisticated as ever, confidence beaming with every sweet smile her lips carried. Alongside her presence, her choice of clothing was impeccable, once again, as she was sporting a set of big golden hoop earrings which sneakily popped out from under her black hijab, a grey t-shirt with bold, white writing which read ‘ _ I’m not always a bitch. Just kidding, go fuck yourself’  _ which seemed to make Even let out a little snort at the humour of it all and at how Sana-esque it was.

“So, you doing alright?” She asked.

“Yeah. Yeah actually, thanks for asking. You?”

“Not too bad. I’m just having a laugh at seeing all these first-year girls attempting to shove their tongues down the Penetrators. They actually get these special jumpers if they fuck them.”

“What, seriously?”

“I know, right? But anyways. How’s the lovey dovey couple doing?” She inquired, whilst simultaneously wiggling her eyebrows at Even at the mentioning of him and Isak. “You guys still doing alright?”

A small smirk from Even came out of nowhere. “We’re good, thank you. I hope we’re being cute enough to make Eva hyped up about us every now and then.”

“Oh my word, you should see her on group chats every time Isak posts something about you two on Instagram. You can literally hear her screaming through the messages. It’s usually her and Vilde that just totally lose the plot and flip out.”

They both shared silent laughters and the mutual appreciation of the wonderful girls that they were surrounded by in their lives.

A small moment passed where Even could finally realise the lack of sleep he’d been getting this past week and so tiredness suddenly hit him whilst he was sat there slouched on the sofa like a bag of potatoes.

“So…” Sana tried breaking this small sense of awkwardness with the help of clearing her throat. “How did you and Isak  _ actually _ meet?”

The sweet flashbacks had once again started, but this one was one of his most precious memories. He always made sure to be able to think back about it alone and in peace. So he pushed that forthcoming tale aside and navigated his words to tell “the story” of how they met, which was just a load of bullshit made up on both of their parts to protect both their pasts from uninvited listeners.

“Oh well, you know,” Even unintentionally copied Sana’s throat-clearing technique to buy him some time to blurt out his well rehearsed sentence as naturally as possible. “Just the usual. We kept on bumping into each other at parties over the summer and all, and it sort of went on from there really.”

_ Just the usual. On a bench. Side by side. Both lonely, yet in that moment not alone. _

He sneaked an unnoticeable glance through his peripheral vision towards Sana to see how she reacted to this, but her not-so-hidden smirk spread across her lips just made it all the more obvious that she didn’t buy this story but that she was willing to go along with it.

“How cute,” she answered with a monotone voice, setting her gaze onto the group of people jumping about in time to the music in front of her.

Before Even could come up with some sort of response which would make his story seem more valid, Jonas came pushing through the crowd with a worried and panicked look on his face. He quickly made his way towards where Even was sitting and the furrowed brows and the distressed look in his eyes immediately told him that something was very wrong.

“Even, come! You have to go to the kitchen,  _ now _ .” There was a sense of angst in his voice that Even hadn’t ever heard come from the usually so chilled boy before, which made him quickly aware of what was perhaps going to follow.

Before the tall, and now worried, boy could answer, Jonas had taken hold of his wrist and was already leading him hastily towards the kitchen where Even had last seen Isak disappear into, and he could already make out two voices talking loudly, both of them clearly agitated.

A deafening, nasty voice cut through the chaos as sharp as a knife. Although against all his wishes to be able to do this, Even thought he was able to recognise the voice in the blink of a second dispise all of the background noise from the party.

_ Fucking Julian Dahl? _

“Why the fuck did you think to lie to me,  _ bitch _ !”

The sight in front of him unravelled far too quickly for Even to be able to interpret it in any other way than that his boy was in danger and Even had to do everything in his power to stop it and to protect Isak. To be beside of him. To let him know that whatever harassment or shitty situation he was experiencing now, right this moment, that Even would be there. That he was not alone.

Isak was stood by the kitchen counter with his back pressed against it. He was fully reared up over a heated discussion, but no- something more than just a discussion. This wasn’t a sort of conversation that could be left with a nice handshake and a mutual unspoken compromise to ‘agree to disagree’. No. This was something much more personal to Isak which could be easily detected by the panicked look in his eyes, his tense body language and his loud, booming voice, which was otherwise always so calm and collected.

_ Fuck. No. No, let me help you. Let me be there for you. _

As soon as Even laid his eyes on the body stood opposite his boy, his thought of who it was was confirmed immediately, his eyes widened and not a millisecond passed before he was pressed against Isak’s side, staring Julian down with a look saying ‘back off now before shit goes down and your sorry ass regrets it’.

The shouting from Julian kept on coming in large quantities. “Did you not think that I would realise that you ditched me? Are you embarrassed by me, Isak? Is that it? Have you not gotten over what happened before?  _ Fuck, Isak. _ Get it together already!”

With Even next to him acting as the source of safety he always lived up to be, Isak calmed down and lowered his voice, his face taking on a cold, resentful expression.

“You should leave now, Julian.” He spat out the last word with an obvious hint of disgust. Julian looked at Isak, his otherwise intense stare softening to a sad, taken aback look, his eyes carrying an apologetic and regretful feeling. “Just leave. Like you did back then. You’re used to it now. You’re so good at it. You know exactly how to break someone. You know just how to fuck someone up!”

By this new round of emotions, Isak had heated up again, his voice raised and he was about to lunge out towards Julian with as much force that the boy could produce before Even had grabbed his arms and pulled him back, Isak’s back pressed against Even’s front. Two bodies becoming one. Isak’s short breaths quickly becoming synchronised with the calming rising and falling of Even’s chest.

Julian looked on with more shock in his eyes than one could anticipate from the heated discussion that they had just had together. “I’m sorry, Isak. I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t know- I didn’t mean it to end that way. I thought we could just move on, you know? Go back to being just us two. Isak and Julian. Julian and Isak.” Julian’s eyes softened and he took a small step forward to close the gap between them, between their friendship.

Even tensed at those last few words and pulled Isak further against him, nearly crushing all the air out of the smaller boy.

_ Fucking Julian Dahl. Those are  _ _ our _ _ words. And our words only. _

“Come on Isak. Come with me.” Even whispered into Isak’s ear, pulling his body with him towards the nearest exit in an attempt to escape all of this mess in their lives.

“I’m not going to forget about us, Isak. I’m never going to fucking forget about what we had.” Julian attempted to shout over the music as the two boys walked further and further away from all the negativity, all the chaos.

They had quickly decided to leave the party and go home together.

Isak’s body was still trembling under Even’s hold where he had his arm over Isak’s shoulders, holding him tightly and securely.

As they walked side by side down the dimly lit road, Even couldn’t resist replaying what had happened in the kitchen.

_ What if I hadn’t left him alone. What if I made it more clear to Julian to stay the fuck away from Isak. What if he does it again? What if Julian tried to force himself on Isak. What if they actually had a thing going on before the summer? What if Isak gets hurt? What if Isak is all alone and Julian gets to him? What if Isak thinks he prefers Julian? What the fuck, Even? No. Stop thinking that shit. Get yourself together. Be strong for Isak. _

“Even, ugh. You’re kind of- you’re holding very tightly, Even.”

Even didn’t notice his strong grip on Isak as he spiralled out of control into his winding, dark, negative thoughts. He didn’t even notice how much the thought of Julian and Isak being anywhere near each other affected him.

Breaking the small silence hanging lightly between them, and coughing a little to clear his throat, he decided to just dive into the deep end of his thoughts and hope to clear his mind a little of all of the over-exaggerated non-existent situations between Isak and Julian that he had been inventing in his head. “Did Julian do anything to hurt you?”

“I can’t think. It’s all a blur. I can’t think at all right now.”

Even placed his arm over Isak’s shoulder, pulling the small, sad boy gently towards him and pressed a long, soft kiss to his temple, Isak leaning into his comforting touch. “That’s okay. Let’s just go home, yeah?”

Isak’s deflated green eyes looked up to meet Even’s pair of soft, caring blue eyes. “Okay.”

A small, silent, precious moment passed between the two of them for a second. The air stood still for a millisecond longer. The background noise from nearby traffic was dimmed out, only for the noise to be replaced by their hearts beating for each other.

“Even?”

Gosh, the sweetness in his voice never failed to swoon Even to his knees (although right now, this was most definitely metaphorically). He was reminded daily how a moment wouldn’t pass where he wouldn’t have to think twice about whether or not he would do anything and everything for this small soft boy. Even didn’t think that Isak had any idea of how much power he held over him, making it more definite how Even would forever and always go out of his way to protect Isak. To make sure that no bad soul in this challenging and pitiless world would ever touch Isak, let alone come anywhere near him.

So he gently leant his head onto the small boy’s soft, blonde curls. “Hm?”

“I, uh- There’s something more I should tell you.”

“Shh,” Even hushed to Isak, attempting to calm him down after sensing the obvious shaking in his voice. “Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to say anything right now.”

“No, but uh- I have to tell you something. Please don’t get mad, just please don’t. But there’s something more about Julian I forgot to tell you.”

Even had never experience a more deafening silence between the two of them before. Isak could obviously sense the tension that immediately built up in Even.

All the warning lights and alarms were going off in his head. It took every ounce of strength in Even’s tired body to keep his cool at the mention of his least favourite body walking this Earth right now.

_ Fucking Julian Dahl. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> askjaklsfnajlsfasfn
> 
> Basically me rn, ngl.  
> Like, woah. Calm yo tits Julian. You're out of the picture, move on. Isak be like 'boy byee'. Then he be like 'oh btw Even there's more information about youknowwho which might be hard for you to hear- care to listen?'
> 
> Well, Isak, dear honey, what do you think? :P
> 
> Hope it was okay! I hope it lived up to it's long waiting time! I wanted it to be perfect for you guys, and I hope that I did an alright job of it!  
> Elsker dere alle!<3

**Author's Note:**

> I'm tempted to write an answer as to how it goes on Friday with the pre-drinks and all :3  
> Should I??? Should I not??? Should I write a little hc for it and end it there???? Or should I go all the way with the AU??  
> I'm just so lost for what route I should take with this, because I think it could end up either quite interesting or really weird lol (And I don't want to achieve the 'really weird' bit tbh) :P
> 
> But, more importantly, I hope you liked it! That's the most important part for me<3  
> Elsker dere alle!


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